331 CSOs, including Eurodad, have sent a letter to decision-makers ahead the fourteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), taking place in Nairobi next week.

The letter urges UNCTAD member states to preserve its development mandate and resist the push to align it with the trade liberalisation goals of other institutions.

UNCTAD’s work on debt workout mechanisms and responsible lending and borrowing is addressed, and member states are urged to strengthen these efforts, in particular around debt sustainability and supporting national vulture fund legislation.

The letter also states that UNCTAD’s mandate must include playing an active role in supporting developing countries in crafting investment policies that contribute to development, and analysing both the positive and negative impacts of investment agreements and trade rules on development.

The letter urges that UNCTAD be involved in monitoring the role of the private sector, in particular by considering both the positive and negative impacts of foreign investment and public-private partnerships (PPPs) on domestic resource mobilisation, debt sustainability, human right and the SDGs.

It asks members to strengthen and expand UNCTAD’s mandate on curbing international tax dodging, in particular to ensure developing countries are included in efforts to deal with tax avoidance and evasion globally.